Recipe: Scarborough Fair Roulade

What is Paradise but a garden, an orchard of trees and herbs, full of pleasure and nothing there but delights. – William Lawson (1618)

Wasn’t that relaxing…

This rolled delight takes its name from the Simon & Garfunkel song of the same name. The herbs used are those from the lyrics of the song – parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Bacon is woven like a lattice and encases the other fillings. Fancy…

I am serious. If you ever want to elevate hamburger and bacon into a company-worthy meal this is it.

If you’ve ever had Beef Wellington you’ll know what I mean when I say the pâté adds a depth of richness that is hard to describe. Describable or not, it’s delicious.

This dish is a complete fabrication on my part, and one that worked out extremely well, thank you very much. I had 1-1/2 lbs of thawed ground round that needed dealing with, and I had seen the bacon weave from another blogger’s efforts with sausage and barbecue sauce.

Would I do anything differently? Maybe… The bacon was cooked, but not “crisped.” Another time I think I would start the roulade in an oven proof deep skillet, and partially cook the bacon on the outside of the roulade before putting it into the oven. That way it would have a head start.

Remember to use a meat thermometer. 170° internal is it. No more. If you do you run the risk of drying out the hamburger. Always use a meat thermometer when roasting any meat. For a small investment it’s a life saver.

Since the oven is on anyway, consider roasting vegetables as side dishes. We had potatoes, carrots and parsnips. Roasted parsnips are quite a treat.

Scarborough Fair Roulade

Prep: 20 min  |  Bake: 1 hour 15 min  |  Serves 6

14 pieces bacon (almost a full 1 lb package)

1-1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1 cup chopped fresh parsley

1-1/2 tsp each ground sage, rosemary & ground thyme

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

250g liver pâté with onion and garlic

2 medium portobello mushroom caps

2 tsp cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Take 2 pieces of bacon and lay them atop each other like a cross on your impeccably clean work surface. Then begin to weave the other pieces like you would a mat or lattice crust for a pie, the only difference is leave no gaps between the strips. 

The end result is a beautiful square of woven bacon about 12” x12”.

The beef filling atop the woven bacon.

Combine the ground beef, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and 1tsp each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Knead well with your hands until incorporated.

Chop the portobello caps into fairly fine dice and mix with the pâté and 2 tsp pepper in another bowl.

The pâté layer.

Take the beef mixture and spread evenly over the bacon. Then spread on the pâté.

Rolled and ready for the oven. You may want to do it in a skillet to brown the bacon before roasting.

Roll the bacon up over the filling. Continue to roll until sealed. Place in a roasting pan “seam side down” (where the bacon edges are).

Sprinkle with some more pepper if desired.

Let rest for about 10 minutes before trying to slice.

Roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 170°F on a meat thermometer. This should take between 1 hour and 1 hour 15 minutes.

Remove and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

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